


Tagalongs

by zarabithia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Girl Scout Cookies A/U, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 05:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13873881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Leia has cookies to sell, and her father is along for the ride. Had he known that someone as handsome as Obi-Wan Kenobi was going to purchase some, Anakin might have taken more than five minutes to get dressed.





	Tagalongs

**Author's Note:**

> Fills the prompt of "fluff" at trope bingo.

The alarm rings loudly and distinctly and Anakin does not even open his eyes in order to reach over and smack the offending clock. The week's been too long to get up before noon; not to mention, it's too cold in Ohio to do anything but snuggle back down under the covers. 

Sweet silence is granted only momentarily, however, because a soft, but insistent eight-year-old's voice comes at his right side. "Dad! You have to get up. It's _Saturday_." 

Leia's fingers accompany her declaration, and his muscles complain loudly in Anakin's head as Leia's nails dig into his forearm and her tiny hands give their best "wake up shake." 

"Hey! Princess, am I ever that rough when I wake you up?" Anakin complains. 

"Yes," Leia says, which is a blatant lie. But she's good at it; living with three politicians has perfected her ability to curb the truth. 

Or maybe that's the kind of bitter thought Anakin should be over by now. It's been three years since the divorce, and two since Padmé moved in with Bail and Breha. Just because he's lonely doesn't mean he should have such cranky thoughts towards his ex, who is nothing but kind.

When it is later in the day than eight a.m., Anakin will admit that Bail and Breha are pretty fantastic, too. 

While Anakin is laying there, eyes still shut, contemplating how to defend his honor and ability to wake his children up, another voice chimes in from his left side. "That's not true, Leia! Dad is always nice when he wakes us up. Even when you take _forever_." 

"I never take forever, Luke." Leia sounds indignant about the mere implication, and it's cute in a way that says her nanny's attitude has been rubbing off on her again. Because of course that's Ahsoka's attitude and not his at all - no matter what Padmé or the Organas might say to the contrary. 

"You do. Sometimes. Just not on days when _you_ get to go sell cookies and I have to stay home." 

Ah, the are back to this argument. It's too early and cold for it, so Anakin opens his eyes - reluctantly - and sits up. "I have not had pancakes or coffee yet. We cannot have arguing until I have those things."

"Dad, you don't have time for pancakes!" Leia says, her tiny voice rising in a way that threatens to give way to eight-year-old tears, if not from her than from her entirely too empathetic and sensitive brother. "We have to go! You have to get up and get dressed!" 

"You really do," Luke chimes in. "But don't worry, 'Soka already packed up the car." 

"Even though that's not her job," Leia adds. "So she totally didn't have to do it." 

Anakin raises an eyebrow and glances at the clock. Technically, the twins are right and he doesn't have time to eat breakfast. It's going to take pushing the speed limit as it is. 

"Alright. How about you two go remind Ahsoka that she is very appreciated, _especially when she does things that aren't her job_ , while I get dressed?" 

"Okay, but hurry, Dad. I can't be late or someone might steal our spot," Leia says. 

"Someone might steal your spot?" Luke asks. "They can't! How would you sell the most cookies in your troop?" 

Leia motions to Luke for him to follow her and takes his hand as they continue out to the hallway. "The most in the _state_ ," she corrects.

Anakin sighs as he hops out of bed and begins rummaging through his closet. It's going to be a long day out in the nasty artic wonderland that is Ohio's idea of February, so he layers up and throws on a beanie for good measure. The soft pink pastel of the hat probably doesn't match with the red and black sweaters he's wearing, but Leia had gotten it for him and it _is_ her day. 

He'll scold Luke for hording all his black beanies later; eight year olds look terrible in beanies - unlike his very fashionable adult self, of course - and the kid shouldn't be sneaking into his closet anyway. It's a good way to get traumatized.

"Hurry up, Dad!" Leia calls from the living room. 

"You're ten minutes late, Skyguy!" Ahsoka calls, and Anakin almost trips over Sidious as he hurries out of the room. The damn cat bites him, of course, because that is the kind of day he is going to have. 

~ 

"You aren't supposed to eat the merchandise, Dad," Leia says, thirty minutes after they have set up for the day. She's already sold thirty boxes, which is great and Anakin's very proud of her, even if he would much rather be back in bed at the moment. 

“I’m aware of that, Leia,” Anakin tells her as he eats stars in on the second handful of Tagalongs. “But there are several reasons why I don’t care about that particular rule.”

“Bail says you should only break rules if they are unjust, not just because you personally don’t like them,” Leia argues stubbornly.

Anakin angrily munches on his Tagalongs, briefly closes his eyes, and tries to remember the helpful advice of his mother. _“It’s good that my grandchildren have so many people in their lives who love them,”_ she says, often and pointedly so. _“I’d hate to see anyone trying to get in the way of that happiness.”_

It’s good advice, and Dr. Jinn agrees with it on the few times that Anakin manages to remember to make his therapist appointments on time - or at all, really.

So Anakin takes his time swallowing his Tagalongs as Leia makes another sale, takes a swig from his the “World’s Okayest Dad” thermos that Ahsoka had given him on his last birthday, and considers his words carefully.

“Bail is right,” he says finally as the customer walks away with the box of Thin Mints he’d wanted and the box of Tagalongs Leia had “helpfully” suggested he purchase for “the special person” in his life. “But consider this: it’s cold enough to freeze over hell itself which is pretty appropriate considering Ohio might actually be hell, I’m coming off a sixty hour week with about fifteen hours of sleep, and someone didn’t wake me up in time to get pancakes.”

“You have an alarm clock, Daddy,” Leia huffs.

“Maybe so, but as you know, the only thing I hate more than my alarm clock is sand, and the only good thing Ohio has going for it is that it is considerably lacking in sand. So while I am very proud of you and the young business woman you are turning out to be, I am also going to have to disregard that one particular rule and incorporate Tagalongs as part of my balanced breakfast.”

“Is it the coffee that makes it balanced?” a third voice says, and oh, Anakin already thinks they are an asshole and he turns to tell them so.

The words kind of die in his throat, because that is the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. The eyes , crinkled in amusement , are surrounded by the faintest hint of wrinkles and that should be the first clue that he is going to be helpless before the stranger because has Anakin ever fallen for anyone not older and wiser than him? The answer is no... except for that one terrible time with Colonel Palpatine who had been older, but definitely not wiser. The shade of blue makes Anakin think of road trips during Padmé's first election campaign, when they would stop in the middle of summer day, get in the back of the truck and stare up at the sky; the sky had been full of dreams and hopes for the future and Anakin is pretty sure those eyes are too.

The hair is windswept, and it looks so good on the stranger that Anakin is sure he doesn’t own a solitary beanie to cover up bedhead.

Anakin is also sure that he should say something. But flirting has always been something he’s terrible at. How had he won Padmé's heart? It hadn’t worked in the long run, but it had worked for a while! He’d offered her pears in the dining hall… and asked her if she was an angel.

Terrible pick-up lines, Anakin thinks, but hadn’t they worked once?

“How do you feel about angels? No, pears. Either one?” Anakin cringes internally when the words tumble out of his mouth and when the stranger just frowns, he gives up and shoves another whole Tagalong into his mouth.

For what is not the first time in her eight years of life, Leia steps forward and rescues him from his own awkwardness. 

“Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies, Mister?” Leia asks. “As you can see, they’re so good, my Dad just can’t wait until we get _home_ to try them.”

The stranger turns his confused look to Leia, and his expression softens. “Do you have any that contain angels and pears? Because I quit think I’d like to avoid that combination.”

Leia giggles and Anakin is pretty sure she is going to embarrass him with great enthusiasm when she retells this story to her brother… and nanny… and mother… and her mother’s lovers.

“Thin Mints are our biggest sellers,” Leia says. “But a lot of people really enjoy the Samoas, too. If you’re unsure about what kind to buy, you might want to pick one of those … or both!”

It sounds pushy to Anakin, but the man apparently doesn’t think so, because he rubs his beard thoughtfully as though he is considering the options and god, is Anakin so pathetic that he is thinking about beard burn while standing in front of a Wal-Mart as his daughter tries to sell her cookies?

He definitely needs to get into see Dr. Jinn. Or maybe just get laid. It’s been a while.

“I’m fond of the Do-Si-Dos, myself,” the man says finally.

“Those are my brother’s favorite!” Leia says excitedly. “He’ll be sorry he missed you, because everyone else in our family loves the Tagalongs. Except Mommy. She loves the Thin Mints.”

“Your brother sounds as though he hast truly excellent taste,” the man says seriously and Anakin doesn’t laugh but he wants to because his son keeps playing with that Solo creep every time they go to the playground… so no, Luke has terrible taste, unfortunately.

Maybe Leia’s taste will end up being better.

“He has great taste! He wanted to be here, but … you know, he can’t sell Girl Scout cookies because he’s not a girl. Which is too bad, because a brother is nice, but a sister might have been nicer.”

“Oh? I’m afraid I don’t have either one, so I can’t really say.”

“You don’t have either one? That’s awful!” Leia says seriously. “I feel really badly for you. You don’t have anyone to share your cookies with?”

“Leia!” Anakin says sharply, because that’s a terrible thing to say. “That’s terribly personal. And unprofessional.”

The stranger waves his hand in a dismissive motion. “It’s fine. Actually, young one, I have quite a few colleagues who will be quite vexed if I don’t buy them some cookies… so I believe I’ll have a box of Thin Mints for Dr. Yoda, a box of Trefoils for Dr. Luminara, a box of Savannah Smiles for Dr. Windu… oh, and a box of Tagalongs for Quinlan. No, he’s quite ridiculous, so you’d better make that three boxes for him.”

“And a box of Do-Si-Dos for you?” Leia clarifies as she marks the order down.

“And a box of Do-Si-Dos for me, too,” the man agrees with a soft smile.

“That will be $30,” Leia tells him.

As the man gets out his wallet, Anakin searches desperately for something sauve and intelligent to say to a man who has every reason to think that Anakin is not capable of posessing either character trait. As Leia begins to stack the boxes for the stranger, Anakin blurts out, "So Quinlan is a boyfriend, then?" 

It seems like a calm, reasonable thing to say in his head, but it sounds horrifying once it's blurted out. 

The man looks at him, startled, and Anakin wonders why this seemed so much easier when he was trying to win his ex-wife's affection. Why is flirting with your TA as a college freshman so much easier than flirting as an adult? He's responsible for the lives of two tiny humans on a daily basis but he can't manage to get the number of the cute grown-up human standing in front of him? 

Anakin only has so long to contemplate his terrible life choices before the man's startled look gives way to a small smile. 

"Quinlan Vos is an extraodinary man, and a trusted colleague, but he is not my boyfriend," the man says finally. 

"Do you have one?" Anakin asks, but then he corrects himself, because his mother would scold him for assuming anything based on the really perfectly tailored suit that matches better than any straight man could manage. "Or a girlfriend?" 

"Daddy!" Leia scolds. "That's terribly personal." 

Well, she's not wrong. 

"True," Anakin tells her. "But I'm not the salesperson here, so I can be unprofessional." 

Leia sighs heavily - that's an Organa sigh, though Anakin can't quite parse whether it's Mayor Organa or Senator Organa she is taking after at the moment - and says, "Well, if you are going to be _personal_ maybe you can do so _over there_ and not block my cookie sales." 

Not everyone can handle Leia's directness - the word "brat" is used quite often, and whenever Anakin looses his temper about it, Leia has two mothers and a nanny who remind him that it will be replaced later in life with a harsher word that also starts with a b - so Anakin watches him carefully, trying to find some sign that the man is going to make the same error. It will be a crushing disappointment, but Luke and Leia come first, and Anakin can't keep trying to flirt with someone who can't have the same priorities. 

To his immense relief, the man chuckles and says, "That's very fair advice, Miss." 

"It's Leia. Leia Naberrie-Skywalker. And that guy you're trying to flirt with is my dad. His name is Anakin. But he's just a Skywalker, not a Naberrie." 

The man carefully gathers his packages of cookies in his arms and steps away from Leia's stand. He comes to stand right in front of Anakin, and oh, how Anakin regrets not taking a shower or making sure his clothes were actually co-ordinated. The beanie... is probably not his best look, either. It is, after all, two sizes too small. 

Those extra fifteen minutes of sleep seem so inconsequential now that he's standing in front of a man who probably tastes better than these Tagalongs.

"Well, I seem to have the advantage of knowing your name, but you not having mine." He shifts the boxes in a motion that makes all of Sidious' cat movements look positively ungraceful. Extending his hand, the stranger says, "I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Anakin."

"Me too," Anakin says earnestly, because he's focusing on shifting his own box of Tagalongs, which of course drops. Well, there was four dollars completely wasted. But it doesn't matter because Anakin is too focused on the callouses along Obi-Wan's fingertips. How does a doctor get fingers this rough, anyway? Eventually, his mouth catches up with what he's said, so he corrects himself. "I mean, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Obi-Wan." 

"And a pleasure to meet my hands, apparently?" Obi-Wan asks, which is a fair statement since Anakin has yet to let go of Obi-Wan's hand.

"Sorry," Anakin says hastily as he withdraws his hand and shoved it into his pocket. "It's funny; it's not usually my flesh hand that has me embarrassed these days." 

Obi-Wan looks to the prosthetic, as Anakin espected him to do. "There's no need to apologize. It's been a while since I've been fondled in public, but it wasn't unwelcome. And I fail to see why having a prosthetic arm would cause you embarrassment." 

"Other people's embarrassment, usually. Or they want to demand long stories about how it happened." Anakin frowns a little, because strangers do not get the full story of his army days. He does. Padmé does. Ahsoka does, because after all, she'd saved his life and dragged his ass across the battlefield. Someday, someone else might get to hear that story, but too many people think they are entitled to it at the start. 

"Well... I'd like very much to hear many stories from you, though not neccessarily about your arm," Obi-Wan says. He glances down at his watch, and shakes his head. A stray lock of hair flips in the wind and Anakin wants to use both of his hands to wrestle it into submission. "But unfortunately, I have a class at noon, so I really should get going." 

The disappointment is crushing, and that's honestly ridiculous. If the man in front of him had been a fraction less pretty, Anakin would be ashamed of himself for such over the top hopelessness. "You're a professor? Oh, _that_ kind of doctor?" 

"Yes. Of literature, actually. And I'm sure my students would be devastated if I wasn't there to discuss their sacred texts with them," Obi-Wan says, and never has sarcasm sounded so inviting. 

The fact that Obi-Wan still hasn't moved is an invitation of another sort, and Anakin takes accepts it. "Maybe we could get together some other time to swap... stories." 

There are at least ten aspects of "swapping" that Anakin wants to do with Obi-Wan, but he supposes they can start with stories. 

Obi-Wan smiles, and suddenly, all the awkwardness of the afternoon has been worth it. "I'd like that. Since I owe you a box of cookies..." 

Obi-Wan produced a pen from out of his pocket, which is the kind of magic that Anakin can never hope to master honestly, and scribbles a number on one of the three boxes of Tagalongs he'd purchased from Leia before handing them to Anakin. 

"Oh, you didn't have to do that. The cookies, I mean, not the number. I mean, you didn't have to do that either, but I'm glad you did." 

There are the smallest of wrinkles that line each of Obi-Wan's eyes and they become more obvious when he smiles. "Quinlan will survive with two. Here's hoping you make it up to me later. Over dinner, perhaps?" 

Anakin nods and is in fact, still nodding as Obi-Wan makes his departure. 

"Are you okay, Daddy?" Leia asks a few minutes later. There's a rare pause between the sales, and she's abanoned her post long enough to come stand next to him. 

"Yeah. I'm just happy, Leia. Daddy has ... plans." 

"With Obi-Wan?" 

"Yes. Plans with Obi-Wan." It's a nice name. Not common, and it occurs to him that he has no idea what kind of name Obi-Wan is, or if he comes from a culture that has specialized dietary requirements. "How am I supposed to cook him dinner if I don't even know if he likes meat or thinks veal is killing baby cows?" he wonders aloud. 

"Veal _is_ killing baby cows, Daddy, and that sounds like a date, not 'plans,'" Leia says. 

Anakin groans and begins to open his box of Tagalongs. "I thought Luke was the vegetarian. You love veal parmesean, Leia. And lamb. You know what lamb is, right? Are Luke's bad habits rubbing off on you?" 

He ignores the part about the date, because ... it's too early for that. Obi-Wan might turn out to be an asshole or something, and it's too soon for his kids to worry about his love life when he doesn' t even have a love life. 

" _My_ bad habits rub off on Luke," Leia says firmly. "And ... if it is a date, you can always make him your mac and cheese. It's the best! Just don't burn it this time." 

"I won't burn it this time. That was an accident!" 

"Are you _sure_?" 

"Yes, little princess, I'm sure." 

Leia laughs at him and goes back to her booth while Anakin thinks about just how sure he is. It's tempting fate a little to be so optimistic, Anakin supposes, but the future looks pretty bright and he's going to keep believing that until fate proves him wrong. 

~


End file.
